For the second consecutive year, Mad Scientist from Ray Bowser and Homegrown Natural Wonders took First Place Overall at the 11th annual Oregon Medical Cannabis Awards (OMCA).

Second Place went to Grand Daddy Purple grown by Greg Bennett and Grape Ape grown by Jason Breazeale of Farmageddon came in Third. The ceremony was held on Saturday, December 15, and held at the World Famous Cannabis Cafe in Portland, which also sponsors the annual event.

"It's good to see that now there are medical cannabis contests in many medical marijuana states, but we were there first," said Madeline Martinez, owner of the Cafe and chief organizer of the event. "Eleven years ago we got the idea that we didn't want to have to go to Amsterdam to judge cannabis, especially when so much of the medicine we grow here in Oregon is world class, as this year's judges know very well!"Registered growers from all over Oregon are eligible to enter their finest strains for consideration in the contest. The OMCA is one of the oldest medical marijuana contests in the U.S., and has long used a double-blind judging process.

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Judges have a month to consider each strain on its own without the effects of any other strains coloring their judgment. Each judge gets a gram of each strain, labeled only by a bar-code, so that no one knows what they are evaluating when they fill out their votes and make their comments.

Ratings are based on six categories: appearance, aroma, smoothness, taste, potency, and medicinal effects."I got a lot done this past month," said one judge, commenting on the duration of the effects from virtually all of the entries and their tendency to put some bounce in her step.

Trophies are awarded for First, Second and Third place overall, and ribbons are awarded for the top scores in the rating categories among those that did not win one of the overall awards.

For the second year in a row, Green Leaf Lab provided analysis of the strains for THC, CBD & CBN levels, adding a level of scientific data to the opinions of the judges.

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The highest THC content came in at 26.01 percent from a Blue Dream grown by Hanson Farms, which also took home the award for best taste. Eleven strains had THC content more than 20 percent.None of the strains entered would be legal in New Jersey, where the medical marijuana law puts a limit on THC content at 10 percent. In fact, soon only one strain would be legal in the Netherlands, where the government has recently called for a ban on "Skunk" marijuana that has a THC content of 15 percent or higher.

None of the strains broke the 1.00 percent level on CBD, with the highest at 0.81 percent. The highest CBN came in at 2.25 percent, with three other strains breaking 1 percent. Because the rankings were anonymous, your trusted reporter was not able to attach names to the strains with each level before turning in the article.

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The daylong ceremonies got off to a fine start when it opened at noon to a room full of vendors, selling jewelry, glassware and other great gifts for patients, friends and family. Later in the afternoon, a sustainable fashion show met with approval and appreciation from the sizeable crowd.

"We only get together as a community a couple of times a year, but even when we haven't seen each other for six months or a year, we all talk like we just saw each other yesterday," said Nickie Gates, who organized the fashion show. "The Oregon medical marijuana community -- and even throughout the whole Northwest -- is so close, and I just love that about us. The OMCA is a real opportunity for us to celebrate that community."

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Paul Stanford won the Dr Rick Bayer Award for all the time effort and resources he devoted to the Measure 80 campaign to legalize hemp and cannabis in Oregon. The staff of the Measure 80 campaign were honored with Freedom Fighter of the Year Award for the accomplishments of the 2012 campaign to legalize hemp and cannabis in Oregon.